Renovating and painting your flat: how to do it successfully
With some DIY skills, you can renovate your flat yourself. We show you how to plan and carry out the renovation efficiently.
05.03.2026
iStock/hanohiki
1. Renovating your flat: planning
You should plan a renovation thoroughly in advance. Think about the following points:
What is the goal of the renovation project? What steps are necessary?
Which rooms do you want to renovate?
What budget do you have?
What work can you do yourself and where do you need specialists?
Do you have the necessary materials?
Once you have answered these questions and made a clear plan, the work can begin.
Renovating a rented flat: what do I need to bear in mind?
Do you want to renovate a rented apartment? Then you have to clarify with your landlord whether you’re allowed to carry out the work. You need written permission (Art. 260a CO).
Owners are most likely to accept renovations when they add value to the apartment. If you’re lucky, landlords might even contribute to the costs.
2. Renovating your home: how do I choose the right flooring?
A beautiful floor is the basis for interior design and crucial for an inviting living atmosphere. The right floor covering also contributes to functionality: it can improve the acoustics, increase comfort and, depending on the material, is easy to maintain.
Popular types of flooring include:
Carpets are soft and create a warm, cosy atmosphere.They improve the room acoustics and insulate against the cold.
However, carpets are more difficult to clean and more susceptible to stains than other floor coverings. Carpets are suitable for the living area. They are not suitable for rooms with a lot of dirt and moisture, such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Can I install a carpet myself?
With some skill, you can install a carpet yourself. While it is labour-intensive, it is not particularly complicated. It’s particularly easy in small rooms and for carpets that are glued or stretched over the floor.
Vinyl floors are robust and easy to maintain. They are suitable for living areas as well as for kitchens and bathrooms. Vinyl is available in various designs that imitate natural materials such as wood and stone.
Compared to laminate or tiles, vinyl floors are significantly thinner. This is why a flat surface is required for installation.
Can I install vinyl myself?
If the surface is smooth, vinyl is quite easy to install. Vinyl is often available in click systems. This allows you to easily connect the individual panels by clicking them into each other using special joints. This means you can lay the flooring without special tools.
Laminate floors are robust and easy to maintain. They are also often cheaper than vinyl floors. However, they are quite sensitive to moisture. They are therefore not suitable for bathrooms.
Good to know: in some cases, you will still need to lay additional impact sound insulation under the laminate flooring. However, this is now integrated into some laminate floors.
Can I install laminate floors myself?
Laminate is available with a click system, among other things. This means installing laminate yourself is quite manageable. with a manageable amount of time and effort. yourself.
Parquet is made of real wood. It gives rooms a high-quality, natural appearance. It is durable and hard-wearing. However, it is more susceptible to dents and scratches than laminate. However, you can regularly sand and reseal a parquet floor.
Parquet is generally more expensive than vinyl and laminate. In addition, a parquet floor needs regular maintenance (e.g. oiling). In addition, it is not suitable for damp rooms such as bathrooms, as the wood absorbs moisture.
Can I install parquet myself?
Parquet with a click system is relatively easy to install yourself. Solid parquet should be laid by a specialist.
Tiles are durable and water-resistant. They are therefore suitable for kitchens and bathrooms as well as for living rooms. They are easy to maintain and available in many designs and sizes.
However, without underfloor heating, tiles can feel cool in the winter months.
Can I install tiles myself?
Laying tiles is challenging. You also need special tools, such as a tile cutter, especially for large-format tiles. Furthermore, tiles can break quite quickly when laid. Therefore, it is generally worth hiring a specialist.
Regardless of the flooring: before laying the new floor, check the subfloor. Not every floor is in such good condition that you can lay your desired flooring directly on top of it.
If the existing subfloor is uneven, this has a negative effect on the new flooring. Depending on the condition, you may have to remove the old floor completely before laying the new one.
3. Renovating bathrooms and kitchens
If you renovate your bathroom and kitchen yourself, you save money and give important areas of your everyday life a fresh look. If you have the right tools and DIY skills, you can do a lot of the work yourself.
Replacing fittings
You can upgrade the rooms effectively by replacing fittings in the kitchen and bathroom. You can generally remove the old fittings and install new ones by yourself.
Caution: before you start replacing anything, you must turn off the water. This way, you avoid water damage.
Painting wall and floor tiles
Are the tiles a little older, but replacing them is not an option for you? You can also simply paint over the tiles. This is cheaper and easier than laying new tiles.
Renewing kitchen fronts
Don’t like the colour of your kitchen anymore? You can give your kitchen a new design, by renewing the kitchen fronts.
These are your options:
The covering of the fronts with adhesive film is an easy and affordable way to modernise your kitchen. There is a wide selection of different designs. All you have to do is cut the adhesive film to size and apply it to the kitchen cabinet doors. Choose the highest quality films possible.
The painting of the kitchen fronts is also a cost-saving option. This procedure can be more time-consuming, as you often have to sand the cabinet doors. When choosing the colour, make sure that it’s compatible with the material of the kitchen cabinets.
The most complex and expensive option is the complete replacement of the kitchen fronts. If your kitchen does not have standard dimensions, you must cut the fronts yourself or have them made to measure.
Adjust the lighting
Lighting plays an important part in your kitchen and bathroom. Bright and well-placed lamps in the kitchen and bathroom ensure a well-lit and harmonious environment. With additional light sources you can also illuminate and highlight individual areas.
Tip: With a dimmable lighting you can adapt the atmosphere in the room to your mood on the spot.
Caution: Before starting work, you must interrupt the circuit at the fuse box. Otherwise, there is a risk of electric shock.
4. Painting your flat
Painting the walls is one of the easiest ways to change a room: colours affect the atmosphere – and the perception of space and light. In addition to the walls, you can also paint radiators, door frames and window frames.
To make smaller spaces look bigger:
Bright wall colours generally make a room appear larger.
A dark colour on the end wall of the room (short side) makes it look wider.
Do you want to paint all the walls in colour? When doing so, leave an approximately ten-centimetre-wide strip white towards the ceiling.
Paint the ceiling a lighter colour than the walls.
With the right equipment, you can paint walls yourself. Painting over dark walls with a lighter colour can be challenging. This often requires several layers of paint and a special primer.
Have the apartment professionally painted
For a flawless result, it may be worth hiring a professional painter.
5. Renovating an apartment: costs
The cost of renovating an apartment depends heavily on the planned work, the condition of the apartment and the choice of materials.
6. Conclusion
Renovating an apartment yourself, saves money and offers creative freedom. Even small jobs such as painting walls or replacing fittings can have a big impact.
You can achieve a lot with good planning and craftsmanship. For complicated work such as laying tiles, it is advisable to hire a specialist.
Good to know: you are allowed to install lights and light switches in your apartment yourself. However, for more complex electrical installations, you must hire a qualified professional (Art. 16 NIV).
7. FAQs on renovating and painting your apartment
In general, tenants in Switzerland do not have to paint their apartment do not have to paint their apartment. However: in the event of excessive wear and tear you must contribute to the costs when you move out.
No, you don’t have to paint your apartment when you move out. Even in the event of excessive wear and tear, this is not recommended. The reason for this is that if you hand over the apartment with damage, the landlord has to arrange for the repairs. In that case, they may only charge you for a percentage of the costs based on the lifespan of the item.
For example: a coat of emulsion paint has a lifespan of eight years. You move out after five years. Painting the new wall costs CHF 500. You only have to pay three eighths of the costs, i.e., CHF 187.50.
A renovation involves enhancing the appearance of your property. In the process, existing parts are improved or replaced. It is a measure to preserve value.
Refurbishments restore the value of the property. This is because, with a refurbishment, you repair significant defects. This could include removing mould, for example.
When you renovate, you spruce up your property. You improve or renew existing parts. This is done as a value-preserving measure.
A restoration is the restoration of a building to its original condition. Historic and listed buildings are often restored. Particular attention is paid to the building’s cultural or architectural value.
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This article was first published on 24.10.2024
